Albion

Amasa is a rare Biblical name borne by two figures. One is the son of Abigail and nephew of King David, who named him commander of the rebels. This Amasa met a tragic end when he was murdered by Joab. 

The other Biblical Amasa was one of the Children of Ephraim.

Amasa

Annis and Anice are both antique variations of Agnes that have fallen out of use, perhaps because of pronunciation problems (ANN-is, or an-EES?)

Annis

Ardelle

Aurelia is an ancient Roman name that's become a surprise hit in the contemporary world. A top favorite on Nameberry, it reentered the US Top 1000 in 2014 after a 70-year absence and continues to climb.
 
Aurelia is the female form of the Latin name Aurelius, an ancient Roman surname. Aurelius is derived from the Latin word aureus, meaning "golden," which was also the name of a gold coin used in Ancient Rome. Aurelius was a cognomen, a third name in Roman culture that often referenced a personal characteristic or trait, likely used for someone with golden hair.
 
The Roman classic Aurelius, from which Aurelia derives, was very common in the Roman Empire and is currently experiencing a resurgence in the US—it re-entered the Top 1000 list in 2012 after a 61-year hiatus. 
 
The name of several minor early saints, Aurelia's sound and feel can be credited for it being on the rise again. Aurora and Oriana are Aurelia cousins you might also want to consider. 
 
Aurelia was the name of the mothers of Julius Caesar, the writer Sylvia Plath, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, in her honor, made it one of his daughter Christina's <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/673/middle-names">middle names</a>.

Aurelia

Aurilla

Avis is a bird name that's been in hibernation for awhile, possibly due to the car rental association, but it could make a return on the wings of Ava. Baldwin brother Daniel chose it for his daughter.
 Avis Everhard is the fictional narrator of the Jack London dystopian novel The Iron Heel. In the Harry Potter books, Avis is not a character, but a spell.

Avis

Alcut

Alphreda

Aroline

Atwood

An old English redhead name -- one of the few that doesn't begin with the letter r -- with references both to a famous French knight and a magical horse. 

Bayard

Possibility for fans of science fiction writer Ray. 

Bradbury

Burleigh

Bethuel

Bidfield

Bimsley

Calesta

Carmelita is an obscure short form of an obscure name that may rise to new prominence during the 2012 Olympics, via runner Carmelita Jeter aka "The World's Fastest Woman."  Carmelita has a particularly international flavor with the original Carmel a Hebrew name long popular in Ireland, with Carmelita itself most popular in Latin countries.

Carmelita

Upper-crusty nickname occasionally used in Britain, particularly in 1930s novels featuring significant garden party scenes, but eclipsed here by Carrie et al. 

Caro

A poetic name first used in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" in 1596, it had a literary vogue in the 18th century, especially favored by Robert Burns.  "inda" names--Melinda, Belinda, Linda" are not particularly in right now.

Clarinda

Connell

Climena

Clymena

Dolphus

Danforth

Dionysia

Elbridge is an uncommon last name used as first. It sounds rather forbidding, but Bridge would be a cute, modern nickname.

Elbridge

This old-fashioned name looks like it could be on the edge of a revival, following in the footsteps of Alden and Auden.

Elden

Anyone who's seen "The Book of Mormon" or visited Utah knows this as the title taken by male Mormon missionaries during their term of service. We'd advise anyone who lives somewhere with any significant Mormon population to avoid it for that reason. That said, Elder does have some history as a boys' name, especially in Latin America, where the stress is on the second syllable. The "el-" sound has become extremely fashionable, so we wouldn't be surprised if this started climbing up the charts.

Elder

A bit too elephantine for a modern child.

Eliphalet

Emerson is a dignified, somewhat serious name associated with transcendental thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson. Much more popular now for girls since Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher used it for her daughter, it is definitely still a viable <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boys name</a>.

Emerson

Fidelia stems from the Latin word Fides, meaning faith. It has the some root as the English word fidelity. Fidelia gained popularity in the mid-19th Century after Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" gave this name cultural and virtuous significance.

Fidelia

Gorham

Hulda

Hastings

Hayford

Ianthia

Iney

A lovely (and uncommon) longer form for Nora, one of the most fashionable international nickname names around. Lenora fell off the US charts in the 70s, but just re-entered in 2022 as parents' love for short forms Leni and Nora is growing.

Lenora

Leota is an antique name rarely used any more -- it was given to just 8 baby girls in the US in 2021. Some sources says Leota is a Native American name meaning blue flower.

Leota

Letitia is a delicate, once prim and proper sounding name whose staid image has been unbuttoned by numerous phonetic spellings. The original, often used in Spanish-speaking families, would still make an attractive, delicate choice. After a solid century on the Top 1000 list, Letitia fell off in the early 1980s and has not yet returned. 
 Letitia has a First Lady heritage, as the wife of President John Tyler. Letitia Baldridge, White House social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy, was often known as Tish. These days, most parents would prefer the sweet, gold-locket pet forms Letty or Lettie.
 Spelled Laetitia, she was the Roman goddess of celebration, happiness and gaiety. The name appeared in the form Lettice in medieval England.

Letitia

Liston

Lucina, deriving from Latin lucus "grove" and also associated with lux "light", is an epithet given in Roman mythology to the goddess Juno (and sometimes also Diana) in her role as goddess of childbirth. A stately and unusual route to Lucy, more delicate than Lucinda.

Lucina

Loley

All names ending in ville are in nowheresville. 

Melville

Melvina ranked in the Top 1000 for over 65 years in the US, coinciding to a large extent with the years its much more popular masculine counterpart Melvin ranked in the Top 100. Today, Melvin is still hanging on in the Top 1000 for boys, but Melvina hasn't been given to more than 20 babies in a year since 1991.

Melvina

A unique international short form of Margaret.

Mettie

Feels akin to Brooks and Rivers, two other boys' names that double as plural nouns. It's been used as a first name for centuries, including by a two time governor of Virginia. 

Mills

Mellen

Minot

Ovila

A grassy place with trees is a nice image to attach to a name. 

Park

Percia

The "Believe It or Not" jokes will get old fast, but this surname feels fun and on-trend for both girls and boys.

Ripley

Rensselaer

Rosilla

Ruel

A soft and interesting Hebrew name long popular in France, where it has ranked in the Top 400 since 1986 (as Salomé). Ex-ER star Alex Kingston named her daughter Salome Violetta.

Despite seeing small but steady use during the latter part of the 19th century, Salome has never really caught on in the US – no doubt due to the historical association with the Biblical dancer who asked for John the Baptist's head on a platter. In fact, the dancer is not mentioned by name in the Bible, but the name Salome was attached to this figure by the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Josephus. There is, however, another Salome who is specifically mentioned in the Bible: a female follower of Jesus, wife of Zebedee and mother of the disciples James and John.

 Oscar Wilde wrote a play called Salome in 1893 and Richard Strauss based an opera on it twelve years later. In pop culture, the name was given to a seductive vampire character in the HBO series True Blood.

Salome

A name some people first encountered in the old children's book series The Five Little Peppers, in which Sophronia, the youngest of the Peppers is nicknamed Phronsie.`It was also used by Dickens in two of his novels: The Old Curiosity Shop and Our Mutual Friend.
 An archaic option for elaborating on Sophie/Sophia.

Sophronia

Sylvina

Sparhawk

Rather formal word name that has been used occasionally over the years, most notably for the autism activist and animal expert Temple Grandin. 

Temple

This rarely used Old Testament name will inevitably set off a connection to thirst. Thirza was historically used as both an independent name and as a nickname for Theresa.

Thirza

Thursa

Tristam

Wava

Wellington is a tony-sounding English surname turned baby name by pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who calls her son Wells for short. It's also the middle name of one of the Sweet Home sextuplets, Blu Wellington.

Wellington

Wilbert

An English surname derived from multiple place names, which ranked in the Top 500 for boys in the US until the turn of the 20th century.

Winfield

Wiggins

Woodman

A biblical name that was used in colonial times, but which has an unpleasant sound to the modern ear. 

Zadock

actor

almena

ausmon

azelle

bisbee

blinda

consider

ebbie

elathan

elgene

flavilla

glazier

hovey

isawood

laroy

lyforister

merrit

orrington

parazanda

pecallies

permelia

relief

retire

tamson

wealthy

zylpha

ErinRose's list "Quirky Cemetery Names" of 100 great name ideas: Albion - zylpha!

Quirky Cemetery Names

Interesting and unusual names found while wondering around old cemeteries throughout central Maine.